2020世界無菸日 無煙減害新策略
在世界衛生組織舉辦的2020世界無菸日，無煙世界基金會宣導創新戒菸解決方案，無煙台灣基金會表示贊同。
據《無煙世界基金會FSFW》官網指出，每天因吸菸而喪生。但是菸草流行議題很少引起廣泛關注，尤其是在像新冠肺炎(COVID-19)這樣的更為嚴重的危機中。在 世界無菸日 （World No Tobacco Day, WNTD），我們努力重新開啟打擊吸煙的戰場，並強調菸草對全球健康的獨特破壞性影響。
世界無菸日於1988年在世界衛生組織（WHO）的主持下發起，旨在實現兩個目標：支持吸菸者戒菸和防止青少年養成習慣。多年來，針對這些目的採取了各種舉措。學校舉辦海報比賽；城市和非政府組織組織遊行，支持無菸法律；大學舉辦菸害防治研討會，以加快政策的有效實施。其中許多策略產生了值得稱讚的變化。然而，在此過程中的某個地方，反菸工作並未註意到他們聲稱要幫助的一個關鍵群體：吸菸者。
在第一個世界無菸日期間，博士Derek Yach為《南非醫學雜誌》的特別版做出了貢獻，該版專門致力於吸菸-其對人類的影響，對有效法律的需求以及戒菸的價值。隨著時間的流逝，這項工作導致稅收增加和更嚴格的立法，挽救了無數生命。但是，近年來，我發現人們越來越關注政策問題，而不是吸菸者的需求。這一轉變在今年世界無菸日的主題中顯而易見，「保護青年人免受菸草業操縱，並防止他們吸菸和使用尼古丁」。這個目標至關重要，必須加以解決。減少青年人的菸草使用將為子孫後代帶來巨大的公共衛生收益。但是，在我們試圖將明天的吸菸者減少到最低限度的過程中，我們不能忽視今天的吸菸者。
目前，世界上有13億位菸草使用者。 世界無菸日提供了一個機會，向吸菸族群開始健康，無煙未來之旅所需的資訊和動力。與成年吸菸者善意的交流並不妨礙阻止青少年吸菸而做出的重要努力。相反，它強化了這種努力，以創建一種更加包容和有效的菸草控制方法。
同理，可以理解的對當前新冠疫情大流行的關注不應掩蓋世界正在進行的反吸菸和相關疾病的鬥爭。實際上，我們必須注意這些致命危機的交匯點，在菸民面臨禁足下的調查顯示，吸菸者承受著很大的壓力，而菸草通常是他們應對這種壓力的主要應對機制。儘管許多接受調查的人報告說他們想戒菸，但他們常常缺乏獲得可能實現這一轉變的資訊、支持和尼古丁替代品的管道。
戒菸絕非易事。並且嘗試的許多方法都將失敗。但是，如果我們與吸菸者一起尋找適合他們需求的解決方案，則有可能在全球範圍內大幅減少香菸消費。最不可能失敗的策略包括使用尼古丁替代品（從貼片，口香糖和鼻菸到電子煙和加熱菸），以及來自衛生專業人員或通過數位平台的行為支持。現在是時候以同情心吸引當前的吸菸者，並向他們保證戒菸在任何年齡都是可以實現的，並且是有價值的。
在世界無菸日的前夕，前端的菸草研究人員發表了一項包含兩項有力資訊的大型研究：（1）在15歲之前開始抽菸習慣的人比不吸菸者和以後開始吸菸的人面臨更大的過早死亡風險； （2）到40歲時戒菸的菸民「幾乎避免了因吸菸造成的所有額外死亡」。 這項研究追踪了將近120,000名古巴人長達20年之久，傳達了防止青年人抽菸和鼓勵成人戒菸的重要性。
隨著世界努力應對一種新的可怕病毒，世界無菸日提醒我們，吸菸也是大流行病。 減輕災難的危害將不會來自疫苗，而是來自考慮到吸菸者自身需求的創新解決方案。
World No Tobacco Day 2020
Lives are lost to smoking every day. Yet, the tobacco epidemic rarely earns widespread attention—particularly amidst more acute crises like COVID-19. On World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) we strive to reinvigorate the fight against smoking, and to stress the uniquely devastating effects of tobacco on global health.
Launched in 1988 under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO), WNTD aims to achieve two goals: support smokers in their efforts to quit and prevent youth from picking up the habit. Over the years, there have been various initiatives toward these ends. Schools ran poster competitions; cities and NGOs organized marches in favor of smoke-free laws; and universities hosted seminars to accelerate implementation of effective policies. Many of these initiatives yielded laudable change. Yet, somewhere along the way, anti-smoking efforts lost sight of a key constituency they purport to help: smokers.
During the first WNTD, I contributed to a special edition of the South African Medical Journal devoted exclusively to smoking—its human impact, the need for effective laws, and the value of quitting. In time, that work led to increased taxes and tougher legislation that has saved countless lives. Yet, in recent years, I have observed an increased focus on policy issues, rather than the needs of smokers. This shift is evident in the theme of this year’s WNTD, “protecting youth from industry manipulation and preventing them from tobacco and nicotine use.” This goal is vital and must be addressed. Reducing tobacco uptake among youth will yield tremendous public health gains for future generations. Yet, in our attempt to minimize the smokers of tomorrow we cannot overlook the smokers of today.
There are currently 1.3 billion tobacco users in the world. WNTD represents an opportunity to provide this community with the information and motivation they need to start to their journey toward a healthier, smoke-free future. Empathetic engagement with adult smokers does not contradict the critical effort to discourage smoking among youth; rather, it complements this effort to create a more encompassing and effective approach to tobacco control.
Similarly, the understandable attention to current pandemic should not overshadow the world’s ongoing fight against smoking and related diseases. In fact, we must attend to the points at which these deadly crises intersect. Surveys of individuals under various conditions of lock-down show that smokers are experiencing high levels of stress, and that tobacco is often their primary coping mechanism for managing this stress. While many of those surveyed reported that they would like to quit, they often lacked access to the information, support, and nicotine alternatives that might enable this transition.
Quitting is never easy; and many of the approaches tried will fail. Yet, if we work with smokers to find solutions that fit their needs, it is possible to dramatically reduce cigarette consumption across the world. Strategies least likely to fail involve the use of nicotine alternatives (from the patch, gum, and snus, to e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products), combined with sound behavioral support from health professionals or through digital platforms. This is the time to reach out to current smokers with empathy—and to assure them that cessation is achievable and valuable at any age.
On the eve of WNTD, leading tobacco researchers published a large study with two powerful messages: (1) smokers who started their habit before 15 years of age were at substantially greater risk of premature death than both nonsmokers and those who started later in life; and (2) smokers who quit by age 40 “avoided almost all the excess mortality due to smoking.” The study, which followed 120,000 Cubans for almost 20 years, conveys the importance of both preventing youth uptake and encouraging adult cessation.
As the world grapples with a new and terrifying virus, WNTD reminds us that smoking, too, is a pandemic. Relief from its devastation will come not from a vaccine, but from innovative solutions that consider the needs of smokers themselves.
PR: Foundation for a Smoke-Free World(FSFW)
Translation: Foundation for a Smoke-Free Taiwan(FSFT)
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